Mail catching and delivering apparatus



. A. SUSSLIN.

MAIL CATCHING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION man OCT- I8. 1919.

1,347,418. Patented y 20,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

A TTORNE Y.

A. SUSSLIN.

MAIL CATCHING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT- 18. 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I WITNESS: I INVENTOR. E M I BY Q g M W ATTORNEY.

UNITED'STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADOLPH SUSSLIN, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

MAIL cercnme AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

Application filed October 18, 1919.

primary object to provide a mechanism to deliver the mail. with the minimum amount of friction from the traveling train to a sta tionand to receive mail from the station into the car with the smallest degree of shock to the parts. d

An object of the invention is to provide simple, substantial means for effectively gripping and retaining in place a mail bag,

automatic means being provided for placing the bag within the car after the apparatus has received the bags.

With these and other objects in view the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation illustrating the car apparatus cooperating with the station apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view through a portion of the car showing a plan of the mechanism.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevation of one of the bag holding members.

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the station apparatus,

F1g. 5 is a horizontal sectional view therethrough,

Fig. 6 is a detail cross sectional View showing the means for holding the shaft of the car apparatus against movement,

F ig. 7 is a detail cross sectional view through the shaft of the car carried mechanism and-showing the spring tending to rotate the shaft, and

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the station apparatus.

Again referring to the drawings illustrating one form in which my invention may be constructed, the numeral 1 designates a shaft supported by the spaced bearings 2 that are originally connected to the car B adjacent the door C thereof. This shaft has fixed thereto an upper arm 3 a lower arm 4 and an intermediate arm 5. The upper arm Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 20, 1920.

Serial No. 331,602.

is for supporting the mail catching apparatus while the two lower arms are for supporting the mail bag. Numerals 6 and 7 designate a pair of spring clips swingingly supported by the ends of the arms 1 and 5 as indicated at 8 so that in the removal of the mail bag the clips may move to a position to offer the smallest amount of resistance to the removal of the bags. Projecting from the arm 3 are pins 9 upon which is slidably mounted a bar 10. Encir'cling the pins and arranged between the arm and the bar are coil springs 11 which cushion and resiliently oppose the sliding movement of the bar toward the arm. Pivotally supported by the bar are jaws 12 of a curved outline so as to readily receive therebetween a mail sacln These jaws are forced toward each other by other springs 13 which are arranged upon guide rods 14 which in turn pass through eye members 15 secured to the arm.

To complete the car carried apparatus I provide a coil spring 16 having one end connected to the shaft so as to partly wind therearound in the movement of the apparatus to active position. The other end of this spring is connected to the door A catch 17 is arranged to hold the apparatus in active position against the action of the spring 16 and this catch consists of a plate 18 having a notch 19 receiving a pivoted plate 20 carried by the shaft 1. The tension of the spring tending to rotate the shaft 1 will cause the plate 21 to be held with its end in the notch 19. hen the device is in the act of catching a bag the initial engagement between the apparatus and the bag will cause the shaft 1 to be rotated somewhat which will cause the plate 21 to be moved out of the notch 19 whereupon it will drop gravitationally so that the spring 16 may then operate to turn the shaft 1 and swing the apparatus into the car.

The track apparatus consists of a post 21 from which project laterally three arms 22, 23 and 24, the two former supporting the bag while the latter is arranged to remove the bag from the car apparatus. Swingingly connected to the arms 22 and 2-3 are spring clips 25 similar to the clips on the car apparatus and swing in a horizontal direction so as to offer the least resistance to the removal of the bag by the car apparatus. Upon the arm 24 I arrange two sets of mail catching mechanism as it is abso- From theforegoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings 1t should be apparent that I provlde an apparatus of substant1al construction in which the parts are so arranged and associated that mail bags may be received and f delivered with a minimum amount of friction and shock. A feature of my invention is the novel manner of arranging all of the springs so that the shock of receiving a bag will be readily absorbed and thereby the mechanical parts prevented from being subj ected to shock. It is of course to be under stood that the invention inay be constructed in variousother manners and'the parts associated in other relations and'therefore I do not desire to be limited in any manner except as set forth in the claims hereunto appended.

What claim-is:- s V 1. A mail bag catching and delivering apparatus comprisingfa shaft, a pair of arms extending therefronua third arm extending therefrom swingingly mounted clips connected to the pair of arms and mail clips connected to the pair ofarms and mail bagcatching means supported bythe third arm consisting of a pair of jaws, a bar supporting the jaws for pivotal movement toward and away'from each other, springs forcing the jaws toward each other, and other springs resiliently opposing movement of the bar, a coil spring for forcing the shaft in one direction, and a catch for holding said spring under restraint and automatically released upon a partial rotation of the shaft in a predetermined direction. 7

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ADOLPH SUSSLIN, 

